My Happy Ending
by waywardon
Summary: Regina offers Snow White the apple. This is her happy ending; Justice.


**__So I actually used the scenes from the show to do this. I had so many YouTube tabs open it was crazy. The song I used was Maroon 5's Come Away to the Water. It fit this so perfectly I just couldn't resist. Enjoy.  
**

_Come away little lass come away to the water,_

_To the ones that are waiting only for you._

_Come away little lass come away to the water,_

_Away from the light that you always knew._

_We are calling to you._

"Oh, who said anything about taking her life?" Regina asked while her eyebrows knit together in a frown as she stared up at James, Prince Charming. Mock surprise filled her words as though she was shocked that it could be implied that she would dare kill anybody. "I have a far more satisfying brand of punishment for her."

Dark, dark lips pulled up into a smile that didn't reach the Queen's eyes as she turned away to begin walking out of the cell and pull the apple from it's little bag at her side. Holding it up as she passed through the door to the cell it clanged shut on its own accord. A small laugh bubbled from Regina's lips as she heard Charming grab the bars and begin rattling them as though he thought he could brake them if he tried hard enough.

Soon enough, she told herself, her beloved Daniel would be avenged.

"I just had to stop you!" She laughed, dropping the illusion that she was Prince Charming. The hurt and shock in Snow White's eyes was delicious. Regina would give one of her limbs to see it again. The same hurt that was undoubtedly on her face when her mother reached into Daniel's chest and grabbed his heart. "I have no interest in cleaning tongue marks off my mirror."

"Let him go. Your fight is with me." Snow White's voice rang out confidently but those big green eyes betrayed her. Regina's head tipped to one side slightly and her eyes widened slightly.

"My thoughts exactly." Regina agreed, much to the younger woman's shock. "Have you ever heard of a parlay? We break off all this messy fighting and have a little talk." She paused to watch the disbelief flicker in Snow's eyes. "Just you and me." Now the girl's face was twisted into something like pain and... There it was. Fear. The fear in her prey's eyes fueled the Queen like nothing else could. "Come unarmed."

Snow White stared at her step-mother through the glass, resigning herself to the unavoidable fate. "Where do I meet you?" She asked without thinking.

Regina's dark eyes bored into Snow's, blank as always. "Where it all began." Was the Dark Queen's equally dark answer.

_Come away little light come away to the darkness,_

_In the shade of the night we will come looking for you. _

_Come away little light come away to the darkness,_

_To the ones appointed to see it through._

_We are coming for you._

_We are coming for you. _

It ends soon. Regina repeated the words in her head over and over. It ends soon. The cycle will be complete. Her own mother killed Daniel because Snow White couldn't hold her tongue for a single day. A single day. It wasn't too much to ask, was it? But now... Now Snow White would die by Regina's hand.

Balance would be once more restored.

Regina stared down at the simple gold band on her finger, twisting it with her thumb. It was painfully cold. So very cold. Much like her heart. It had died along with Daniel, had been buried along with him.

Moving on meant letting go, and Regina never could. Letting go of Daniel? No, that meant forgetting. True love should never be forgotten, no matter how painful. Instead she shouldered that pain and used it as her greatest weapon. No magic or sword was greater than the pain. It gave her strength and drive to ram the burden of that pain into the heart of the world and show everyone just what it was like to hurt.

What it was really like to hurt.

Especially Snow White.

Not satisfied with simply killing the girl, Regina would trap her in her own mind. She had been trapped inside herself when Daniel died, so wasn't it fitting that Snow White ended the same? Dead on the outside and wishing for it to end on the inside.

_Come away little lamb come away to the water,_

_Give yourself so we might live anew._

_Come away little lamb come away to the slaughter,_

_To the ones appointed to see this through. _

_We are coming for you._

_We are coming for you. _

The stables were a haunting echo of the past. Regina stared down at the floorboards that were just as familiar to her as the back of her hand. So much time spent here looking after the horses and, of course, stealing time with Daniel. Every second was precious and treasured.

The simple gold band felt heavy. Daniel had put it on her finger all those years ago and although she knew that she couldn't get him back she couldn't bring herself to get rid of the humble little ring. It wasn't as elegant as the one the King had offered her but Regina treasured this one rather than the old man's.

She twisted it around on her finger and with each twist her cold, dead heart jumped in her chest and the ache only felt worse. The cool, indifferent mask had dropped and the Queen actually looked pained for a change.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself she looked up when she heard footsteps that announced Snow White's presence. "Hello, Regina."

_Come away little lamb come away to the water,_

_To the arms that are waiting only for you._

_Come away little lamb come away to the slaughter,_

_To the ones appointed to see it through._

_We are coming for you._

_We are coming for you._

_"She sacrificed herself for all of us."_

Regina pouted at the mirror which was displaying Snow White laying on the hilltop along with seven dwarfs, Red Riding Hood, and Granny. "It appears that sacrifice is overrated." She cooed, chuckling.

This was it. The circle was finally complete. Snow had taken the bite of the apple instead of letting her Charming die. Lucky for the Queen she was such a stupid girl. True Love. Bah.

Daniel had finally been avenged. For the first time in years she felt something similar to happiness bloom in her dead chest. It was just an echo of the feeling, yes, but it was the closest a broken soul like herself could get. Her True Love was finally, finally, avenged.

"Speaking of..." She said as she leaned forward then flicked one hand at the mirror. The scene abruptly changed to show Prince Charming gripping the bars of his cell.

"_Snow! What have you done to her?"_He bellowed as he rattled the bars like he was attempting to break them with his bare hands. "_What have you done?" _

This was justice. This was sacrifice for True Love. Years had gone into this very deed.

This, Regina decided, was _her_happy ending. The one she was resigned to when Daniel drew his last breath as he lay in her arms and took his first one in heaven.

_We are coming for you._

_We are coming for you. _


End file.
